JENNIE

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Two of my four clients are not home during the time I clean their houses. Guess who's guaranteed two showers a week? Guess who needs more than two showers a week during the hellish heat of summer?

Since I sent JK the breakup text two weeks ago, things have been a little chaotic, and not just in the personal hygiene department. Turns out, Harry Pawter—yes, I named my cat Harry Pawter—doesn't like being led around by his collar and leash, like a dog, to go to the bathroom. He's super fucking finicky and insists on a litter box, probably because they got him used to one at the shelter.

Sans any other great ideas, I've been hiding him in basements (and sneaking his litter box into houses) while I work. Then I have to pussyfoot him back out when I'm done at each house. Nighttimes are tricky, depending on where I park for the evening, which is usually at one of the big box stores that allow overnight parking.

After a few rough nights with Harry Pawter and a couple of pee accidents on my clothes, I come across a fortunate discovery. Chaeng and Lisa's garden shed is in the shade, and it's relatively cool. Problem solved. Around ten at night, I sneak Harry Pawter to the shed with his litter pan, food, water, and a blanket. Since I've been helping Chaeng lately with her gardening, I'm the only one who goes into the shed.

Until today …

While Chaeng takes her morning nap (she's been quite exhausted lately), I clean the guest bathroom and myself. For the past two days, I've been as ripe as a brown banana. Someday, when I'm living in a modern penthouse with a well-lit corner for doing custom photo shoots and one of those showers with a slew of shower heads, I will look back on this time in my life and remember how I learned to appreciate the simple things … like body soap and running water.

"Jennie, what do you know about the cat in the—" Lisa opens the bathroom door that I didn't lock because Chaeng is sleeping, and Lisa's supposed to be in the sky working.

I should have locked it. I'm an idiot!

"Shit!" I contort my arms to cover my naked bits on full display through the glass shower door.

"What are you …" She turns and takes a step out of the bathroom. "Doing? Why are you cleaning the shower naked?" Her voice hits a pitch higher than I've ever heard come out of her mouth.

I speed rinse the shampoo from my hair and shut off the water. Grabbing my own towel, I quickly wrap it around my body. "Why are you home?" I say from behind the partially ajar door.

"Canceled flight. Where are your clothes? And what do you know about the cat that was in the shed?"

"Was?" I poke my head around the door, water dripping from my hair.

"Was as in it ran out the second I opened the door. What's going on, Jennie?" Lisa keeps her back to me.

"What do you mean he ran out? Where did he go?" With total disregard for my single-towel attire, I bolt past her toward the back door. "Harry Pawter? HARRY PAWTER! Come to Mommy!" I race to the shed, but it's empty. Then I tighten my towel and inspect the beds of vegetables and flowers. My heart hammers.

Yes. I'm about to get fired.

Yes. The neighbors can see me half naked.

Yes. My feet are covered in dirt and grass clippings.

No. I didn't think I cared this much about my male cat until he ran away.

"HARRY PAWTER!" I skitter toward the side of the house.

"Jennie!" Lisa chases me. "Stop!"

I whip around. "Which way did he go?"

Lisa pinches the bridge of her nose, head down like she's still attempting to be a gentlewoman. If she were the true gentlewoman Chaeng paints her to be, she'd help me find Harry Pawter. Instead, she blows a quick breath out of her nose and smirks. Fucking smirks. It's slightly hidden beneath her tucked chin, but it's there. And goddammit … this isn't funny!

"He ran up the tree by the shed," Lisa says, peeking up at me.

"Call 911." I march past her.

"I don't think that's the best use of emergency resources." She tails me as I stomp my way toward the tree, eyes squinted against the sun, searching for Harry. "It's not an actual emergency."

"Says the girl who doesn't have her cat stuck in a tree."

"I don't have a cat."

My head swivels to shoot her the stink eye for a few seconds before resuming my search for Harry Pawter. "There he is!" I start to point my finger, but my towel decides to slip a few inches, and I barely catch it before it reaches the point of no return. "Listen …"

Lisa's eyebrows form two curious peaks. "Listening …"

I don't appreciate the amusement on her face. "I'm going to hose off my feet and get dressed. Then, I'm going to get your ladder from the garage. I just need you to keep an eye on him until I get back."

Pressing her lips together, she returns a slow nod. She's a little more intimidating in her uniform and tie. "Then we'll talk about the events that have taken place in the past fifteen minutes?"

I deflate and push a harsh breath out my nose as I brush past her toward the house and the water spigot. "Yeah, yeah … we'll talk about it."

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By the time I get dressed, Lisa already has the ladder leaned against the tree trunk, and she's at the top grabbing Harry Pawter by the scruff of his neck and pulling him off the branch.

MEOW!

"Harry Pawter doesn't like being scruffed."

Lisa retreats several steps, dropping Harry Pawter into my waiting arms. "I don't like coming home to a cat in my shed. So Harry Pawter has bigger concerns than his aversion to scruffing."

I kiss Harry's head, and he instantly starts to purr as Lisa reaches the ground.

"Your cat?" she asks as if there's any question by this point.

I nod, nose still nuzzled into Harry's hair.

"And … why was he in my shed?" Lisa questions while lowering the ladder.

"Because …"

Can I quit (like I basically quit JK) and send Lisa a similar text?

Dear Lisa and Chaeng,

Thank you for the job. I've really enjoyed working for you and forming such a close friendship. I'll think of you often and pray for a miraculous recovery. —Jen

P.S. I've been living out of my car for three months. Don't feel bad for me, it's only going to make me stronger one day. I. Am. Courageous!

"Because?" With an unblinking gaze, Lisa steadies the ladder in her hands and waits for my response.

The thing is … I'm not ready to quit Lisa and Chaeng. I'm also not ready to have them take pity on me. It's embarrassing. I don't know how I got here; I just know that it sucks.

"Because I haven't had him very long, and he doesn't do well at home by himself. So I put him in the shed where I can check in on him every hour or so."

Lies are nothing more than wishful versions of the truth. I think optimists, like myself, probably tell the most lies. The truth is usually less than appealing and far from optimistic.

Lisa inspects me, my reaction to my own lie. My chin juts out and up, shoulders back.

"And you were cleaning the shower without any clothes on because?"

"Don't be an asshole." It's out. I just said that to my boss.

Lisa chuckles. "I'm sorry … how is asking a logical question suddenly being an asshole?"

I don't enjoy lying to Lisa or anyone for that matter. People who lie, cheat, and steal don't always do it because they're bad people. Sometimes they do it because they're desperate. And if she's never truly been this desperate, then it's easy for her to judge those of us who are just trying to survive.

So I lie.

"Maybe something personal happened to me. Maybe I wet my pants or started my period and things got … messy." Where the hell am I going with this? "Must you call me out on it? Do you really need to know why?"

Lisa's eyebrows lift while her lips part, as they should because I could have suggested I spilled coffee on myself or some cleaning solution that made my skin itch. Who jumps straight to wetting herself or a heavy menstrual cycle?

I roll my eyes to make sure she knows I'm kidding about the gross part. "The showers at my gym were unavailable again, so I didn't have time to run home and shower without being late. I chose to be on time … to be here when Chaeng woke up and forgo my shower until she took her morning nap. And I was cleaning the shower too, not just myself. For the record, I'm dropping my membership to that gym since their shower availability is so unpredictable. There. Are you happy now?"

The unfortunate thing about lying is that it just gets easier and easier to do. I should write fiction—I have so many made up versions of life in my head.

Hopes.

Fears.

Dreams.

It's disturbing how easily people can shape the world in their heads and give it a false reality with empty words. It's even more disturbing how I can treat my employer like she's the one at fault here.

When Lisa doesn't respond, I force myself to look her in the eye. And I swear … I really swear she sees right through me. Every single hope, dream, fear, and lie. In this moment, something shifts. I don't know what, but something. And that something tells me I'll reflect back on this moment in the future.

She's not my wife.

Not my lover.

I'm not even sure she's my friend.

She's a trespasser into my … well, I don't know yet.

"Okay."

My eyes narrow. "Okay? Okay what?"

"Okay. I understand now. The shower. The cat. Its name is a little weird, but it's your cat not mine."

"That's it? Just … okay? I'm not fired?"

"No, Jennie." She chuckles, heading back into the house. "I'm not the asshole you think I am. Just lock the bathroom door if you ever clean in your birthday suit again, and I'll make sure to open the shed door slowly next time."

It's not pity—at least I don't think anyway. She doesn't know about my living situation or my massive piles of debt. It can't be pity. Well, it could be pity. I must have looked quite pitiful running outside with nothing but a towel wrapped around me, screaming, HARRY PAWTER!

Lisa disappears, probably snuggling in bed with Chaeng, so I finish my cleaning duties in record time and sneak out before I have to face her again.

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